


Messy Scripts

by Catflix



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Itachi had Low-Self Esteem, Mentions of Sasuke, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, To Be Edited, itasaku - Freeform, mentions of Kakashi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 02:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18295445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catflix/pseuds/Catflix
Summary: For years, Sakura expected Sasuke to be her soulmate. For years, she read the small, neat flowing script on the inward side of her arm, expecting Sasuke speak the same words to her the first time they directly talked. For years, she chased and followed and supported him, guessing his speech patterns and word choice, until she was absolutely sure it was him.She was disappointed.She should’ve guessed it was only a matter of time before fate came around and surprised her.Itasaku, soulmates AU. Where the first words or sentences your soulmate says to you are written somewhere over your body.





	Messy Scripts

**Author's Note:**

> warning: unedited
> 
> In which your soulmate’s first words to you are written somewhere on your body.
> 
> Age range: Sakura is 20 and Itachi is 25

 Itasaku: Soulmates AU

 

_In which your soulmate’s first words to you are written somewhere on your body._

 

For years, Sakura expected Sasuke to be her soulmate. For years, she read the small, neat flowing script on the inward side of her arm, expecting Sasuke speak the same words to her the first time they directly talked. For years, she chased and followed and supported him, guessing his speech patterns and word choice, until she was absolutely sure it was him.

 

For years it went on, until one day, they got placed on the same team.

 

( _“Annoying,” scowled her suppose-soulmate and her heart jumped in her throat. “Get out of my way, you only slow me down.”)_

 

She pretended not to hear his first words, and when it got too long to pretend, she denied it for a few days. And when the realization that his first (cold, so cold and mean _and she believed it was him, she loved him for_ years—) words did not match with the ones she had written over her arm — well, it was not pretty.

 

Sakura cried for days. Because she became a ninja for _him_ , she worked and did her best to keep up and impressed and _what else to do when she had no goal?_

 

And then, when the anger mixed with determination and reared its ugly (but useful, _very useful_ ) head she remembered.

 

She still had a soulmate to take care of.

 

This feeling continued to mix in her head, even gained its own voice, and Sakura started to call it an ‘Inner’. This Inner was much stronger than Sakura herself, she had to admit. And when Sakura felt sorry for Sasuke, who revealed he had no soulmate a few months into their time as a team, Inner had no pity to spare.

 

Inner only had a temper, a lot of pride, fury, and all of the things that Sakura has deemed unladylike and threw out of her head when they presented a chance to drive Sasuke- _san_ away.

 

And this is what drove her to her goal of finding her soulmate, because the words that used to be rich black, became faint and even disappeared out of sight several times.

 

Nights like these, with her soulmark disappearing and reappearing in white agony, Sakura feared the most. And how can one not fear, when the script on her arm vanished every time her soulmate was close to dying.

 

(She held her breath every time it disappeared and did not dare to breathe back out until it reappeared.)

 

This is how she found herself becoming a medic-nin. Apprentice of the legendary Tsunade, learning to heal the worst wounds, her chakra control rising up to the ninety-fifth percentile well above the required level. Aiming to become jonin in a few years, reigning her monster strength in control, and taking more and more missions outside the village in hopes of finding her soulmate — Sakura was busy.

 

Yet she never found them.

 

(She was so close, _so close_ , and she missed her chance when it was _right_ under her nose.)

 

Years passed, with her mark becoming fainter and fainter every day. It drew her up the wall. Ino had found her own soulmate, a pale boy whose first word matched the one Ino had around her neck.

 

(“ _Gorgeous,”_ he called her and it was not the compliment that made Sakura gawk. And while she was happy for her best friend, happier than perhaps anyone in the whole world, a traitorous part in the back of her mind squeezed tightly and reminded, _you never found your own soulmate._ )

 

She should’ve guessed it was only a matter of time before fate came around and surprised her.

 

###

 

Things went from bad to worse.

 

Sakura cursed, picking up the injured man they managed to save last minute. Her mission partner, a chunin somewhere in his twenties, covered her back and fought off the remaining enemy-nin, giving them a chance to escape. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sakura worried about Raizou, but her chakra levels were running lower than she had expected, leaving her to deal with more important matters.

 

The forest shadows flickered past her and Sakura planned to use them to her full advantage. Sparing enough chakra to leave a trail that only reacted to Konoha shinobi, she hoisted the man higher on her shoulder. Now that the priority has been taken care of…

 

_Aha,_ Inner Sakura exclaimed triumphantly as they passed a dark, seemingly hollow cave to their right. _This could do, with some genjutsu and natural shadows…_

 

Screeching to a halt, Sakura backtracked, still holding the man tightly. He seemed to give off a faint cough and Sakura’s instincts instantly rose to treat him.

 

_Find a secure location first, baka,_ Inner sneered and Sakura mentally facepalmed. She thrust an open palm into the cave opening, her own chakra already scanning for any signs of life. When the results turned out to be only a couple of small shrubs, Sakura threw the rest of the caution aside and stepped in.

 

The cave was dark as night, with the temperature dropping several degrees inside. Sakura guessed this was only one of the caverns and there were more openings farther underground. Opting for the warmest one and the closest to the surface (after all, she won’t stay here for much longer), Sakura set down the man.

 

_A gaping hole in his side, small concussion, several hits to his pectoralis major—_

 

_Wait a minute._

 

Sakura stopped, frowning. There was a strange clump of chakra nerves behind each of his eyes, so familiar and yet so strange… She remembered feeling the same pathways when scanning Sasuke during the war. 

 

Realization hit her like a truck. _Oh crap—_ went her mind and Sakura instantly let go of the man, shocked into a tense silence.

 

His orbs moved under the closed eyelids and Sakura had to remind herself they were harmless, for now.

 

_Sharingan. Of_ course _it had to be Sharingan. And out of all Sharingan users, this_ had _to be Itachi._

 

_Well at least that is true,_ her Inner tries to cheer her up. _At least we know, that with Sasuke still having his eyes and Kakashi’s eye removed and then destroyed together with Madara, we know this isn’t some weird dojutsu thief._

 

Itachi very suddenly cracked one eye open, but Sakura already made sure to disable most of his nerves, both chakra and not, rendering him immobile and forced out of his kekkei genkai. Sometimes it was just amazing what medic skills could do.

 

Deciding against knocking him out (as he was not stable enough to afford to risk his life), Sakura slowly crept by his side. He would not be able to do anything to stop her anyway, even as his eyes widened and he stared at her in tense silence.

 

_Too bad,_ decided Sakura and brought the healing chakra in her palms. If anything, she had to heal him first, at least to keep him alive until they got to Konoha. Considering he was no longer a missing-nin, once Tsunade-shishou found the secret files that the Sandaime kept on Itachi’s orders to kill his entire clan, he was safe, for now.

 

Itachi’s chakra reared up once again and Sakura mentally winced in sympathy. Foreign chakra in your coils was never a pleasant experience, but she did not have a lot of her reserves left and could not spare any more control.

 

Slowly, his major wounds healed, with Sakura leaving the smaller ones to the Konoha hospital. Hopefully, she’d have enough chakra to carry him back, even better if Raizou found them. Dusting herself off, she reached into the pack attached to her hip and took out several pills, along with some gauze and soldier pills.

 

“You,” she turned to Itachi as she swallowed the soldier pills and took out the blood replenishing ones. “Can’t afford you dying before we reach Konoha so I’m afraid you have to eat those.”

 

The reaction was instantaneous. Itachi’s eyes widened and for a few moments he just stared at her. Sakura twitched inside, Inner raging out _What’s he staring at, huh? Punch him in the face, teach him some manners, cha!_

 

When he continued staring at her, Sakura furrowed her brows. “What?” She asked reflexively.

 

Itachi’s eyes glanced at his wrist for the briefest moment, before he seemed to regain control of himself. He frowned as well and tried to speak.

 

“ _Mmmm._ ” He told her.

 

Silence.

 

“Oh right, I’ve disabled most of your nerves — you probably guessed already. But I’m afraid you’d have to wait still, can’t have you trying to talk my head off or give us away to the enemy.” She stood up. “Now let’s get on with it.”

 

###

 

They managed to make it to Konoha. Raizou caught up with them after a few hours, making Sakura sigh with relief the extra strength she used to carry Itachi loosened. While neither of them sustained major life-threatening injuries, Itachi on the other hand, looked half dead, so none of them argued when Tsunade kicked them him of her office and forced into the hospital on bedrest.

 

This is how Sakura found herself facing a skittish nurse at her doorstep.

 

“Haruno-sama,” the petite young woman cleared her throat as soon as Sakura opened her door. “We, er, the hospital is having some problems with, uh, _taming_ the Uchiha. He keeps threatening the doctors and refuses to be treated until he sees _you_.”

 

Sakura blinked, looked over the nurse, and blinked again. Then she let out a tired sigh, cradling her face in her arms. She got home only a few _hours_ ago, and yet the fate really liked to keep her out of her house.

 

“So, uh, Haruno-sama?”

 

_Okay. Okay, she could do this._

 

Forcing out a smile, she nodded to the nurse. “Yes, of course, Harashi-san. I’ll be there in a moment.”  
  
“Thank you, Haruno-sama. Please hurry.”

 

###

 

The door slammed and Itachi’s hands instinctively reached out into a defensive position. His shoulders relaxed the slightest bit when he realized it was only the pinkette ( _Sakura,_ his mind provided and Itachi tested the word around in his mind. _Sakura,_ he repeated and something warm bloomed in his chest).

 

Of course, she was first to say anything. Sakura sighed, her tiredness visible in her posture and took a seat several feet from his hospital bed. Itachi knew the plastic chairs were uncomfortable, but he made no comment and waited for her to say something.

 

“So.” Sakura went straight to the point. “What do you need.” She said flatly and something weird flapped around in Itachi’s stomach.

 

Oh. Hesitance. Been a long time since he felt that.

 

His stomach squeezed once again and Itachi had to rethink everything before he blurted out something he would regret. His eyes instinctively found the messy script circling his wrist.

 

_You. Can’t afford you dying before we reach Konoha so I’m afraid you have to eat those._ The words mocked him. His head was suddenly filled with doubts and he wondered if she was really his soulmate and how big was the chance for someone else to say these exact same words.

 

What did Sakura even do to deserve _him_? Him, the ruthless, bloodthirsty killer paired up with the one who gives life.

 

Sakura raised a delicate eyebrow at him. “Are you going to answer me or not? I’m slightly busy right now and I don’t have a lot of time to spare.”

 

Well, he supposed he could find another way.

 

His eyes fell on the writing pad Sakura held in her hands, the type that medic use. An idea slowly forming in his mind, Itachi reached out his hand and twitched his fingers, in the universal sign for ‘hand over’.

 

Sakura tipped her head at him and followed his eyes. “Oh!” She said once she saw what he was asking for. “This? Why this?”

 

Her words met blank silence and Sakura frowned. “I thought the hospital untangled your nerves back together. You still can’t use your mouth?”

 

Silence. _Give me, please_ , Itachi’s hand insisted and after a long sigh and a check for potential threats, Sakura handed the writing pad over, careful not to get dangerously close.

 

Itachi plucked the pad out of her hands in less than a moment and he found the pen somewhere in between the pages of paper. Taking no notice of the pages that Sakura took out (most likely the data from the other patients and all that hospital stuff), he pressed the pen tip to the white sheet of paper.

 

Pause. What should he write?

 

_‘I’m your soulmate,’ seems a bit too direct_ , Itachi thought wryly. _And neither is ‘You said the same words that I got on my wrist.’_

 

But Sakura seemed to have less and less patience, so after a brief moment of thinking, he simply scribbled a question.

 

**_Do you know who am I?_ **

 

Sakura raised her eyebrows. “Sure,” she replied. “You’re Uchiha Itachi.”

 

Pause. Itachi frowned. This was not what he tried to ask.

 

**_Did you ever meet your soulmate?_ **

 

“Uh huh. None of your business. Is this an interrogation? Because if it is, I think you are in no position to question me.”

 

_Scribble scribble._

 

**_What were the first words you said to me?_ **

 

Sakura shrugged. “Don’t remember. Something about pills, I think. Why?” Her brow furrowed in the barest hint of suspicion.

 

**_Sasuke cares a lot about you._ **

 

She blinked in confusion. “What?”

 

**_He is a good soulmate._ **

 

“No, he isn’t,” Sakura scowled. “He could be, but he _isn’t_ and you probably know that.”

 

**_Why not?_ **

 

Letting out a sigh, Sakura leaned back in her chair. “You know why. You’ve seen him. He is not my soulmate. He does not think of me as an equal, but rather as a painful poke in his side. He will never accept me and I don’t want him to either.”

 

“Then he is a fool. You are a skilled kunoichi. He missed his chance now.” Itachi blurted out.

 

Then the meaning of his actions had finally reached his mind as he faintly registered the writing pad going _thunk_ on the ground.

 

“Wait. _What?!”_

 

And then there was chaos.

 

Itachi watched as Sakura’s eyes bewilderedly glanced from him to the inside of her arm, and then back again. Her mouth has failed open, making a small _o_ as she stared right back at him.

 

“You— you are — _how?_ Oh my _god_ , I—I don’t know what to say — _soulmate_?” 

 

Something in Itachi’s chest cracked, even though he knew the moment will happen. He knew he did not deserve a soulmate. He knew he would never have one.

 

_And yet, why did he feel so broken?_

 

“Ah,” he forced out. “It appears to be so. However, please do not discourage yourself, there are many people without a soulmate living happily out there with a different partner.”

 

“Huh? W-what do you mean?” Sakura said, confused. Then her eyes lighted up in understanding and Itachi was surprised to see a burning fire within them. “Wait a second. _Are you ditching me?_ ”

 

Itachi sputtered, which is something he had _never_ done before. “What? Of course not!”

 

Sakura’s eyes narrowed. “People ‘living happily out there with a different partner’? Is that what you’re trying to hint? Do you know how hard I looked for you all these years? Do you know that all this work,” she gestured around the room. “All this work was inspired by you? Do you have any idea how painful it was, unable to sleep at night because my soulmark went in and out of sight, showing that my soulmate was _dying?_ I became a medic for you, to find you and to make sure you or anyone else ever suffer such pain!”

 

Something in Itachi’s eyes shifted, and for a moment, he looked dejected. “Ah,” he said, sorrowful and, was that a hint of _guilt_ in his voice? “This is why I do not deserve a soulmate. I have done too many dark things, things that make me unworthy of living. And you… You give life. You give life while I take it away.”

 

“I do not deserve a soulmate,” he repeated once more, before lifting up his head to meet her eyes. “It is not too late, to find a different partner. As I said, you are strong and skillful. Many people would like to be by your side.”

 

“Oh _no_. No, nuh-huh, nope, don’t you _dare_ start this again. I worked so hard to reach you, please, please don’t leave me again.” In three long strides, Sakura crossed the space between them. She lowered down on her knees, making them eye-level in the process. Itachi shrank into himself. She was gentle, oh so gentle with him. And why? Didn’t she see, how big of a mess her soulmate was?

 

Sakura extended her hand to him, asking for permission. His body moved on its own, and Itachi suddenly found himself holding hands with the pinkette. “I know you think of yourself as a tangle of evil, foul, and unstableness,” Sakura said, as if reading his mind. “But, that’s what soulmates are for. We are made to keep each other company and help to heal from old wounds. I can certainly say, you can rely on me.”

 

Taken aback, Itachi only gaped at her for a few moments. “Why?” He forced out finally. “But why would you _want_ to help someone like me?”

 

“Well,” Sakura said, tapping her chin. Her hand still felt warm in Itachi’s hold, and something fluttered in her stomach. “After all, you _are_ my soulmate. Partner decided by fate itself. I…” She trailed off, “I do not always trust fate, as it has gotten me in sticky situations, but… I think I have a good feeling about this one. Besides, it was you who inspired me to become who I am now. And I finally found you, after looking so hard. I’m glad I found you.” She smiled, suddenly shy.

 

“Oh…” Itachi trailed off, unsure what to say. His soulmate would be happy to keep him? _Him_ , the family murderer?

 

And yet, even as these thoughts tumbled in his mind, he felt something warm bloom in his chest. He looked over to Sakura, soft, round features to his sharp ones, bright, bubblegum pink hair to his black-as-night one.

 

She was beautiful.

 

A smile tugged at his lips. He finally found his voice and allowed a corner of his mouth twitch just a little upwards. “Then,” Sakura’s eyes fell on his mouth and he knew that she saw, “I am glad I found you too. May I…?” He said, and at her nod, finally closed the space between them.

 

It was tender, almost unnoticeable if they weren’t so damn close. Itachi was gentle, not pushing her farther than that but not backing down either. The gesture sent fireworks up Sakura’s spine and somewhere in the middle of their kiss, she could feel his small smile against their lips.

 

They finally broke off, smiles tugging at both of their mouths. Itachi’s eyes were soft, as he gazed at her, and Sakura found herself longing for more. Her face must’ve shown her thoughts, because, in less than a moment, he was leaning in again.

 

_I’m glad I found you_ , rang out in both of their minds and Sakura found them smiling against their connected lips.

 

Bonus:

 

“Hey Sakura-chan, I was looking for you cuz I think we might finally get a chance to see Kakashi-sensei’s — _AAAAAAAH_ SAKURA-CHAN WHAT ARE YOU _DOING_?”

 

Both Sakura and Itachi detached instantly and found a very loud blond standing in the middle of the door, screaming his head off.

 

“Oh my _god_ , Sakura, you’re not supposed to kiss your patients! And isn't that SASUKE’S BROTHER SAKURA WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU—”

 

“SH-SHUT UP NARUTO AND GET OUT!” The plastic chair that has been abandoned earlier was suddenly airborne and smacked ‘Naruto’ out of the room. Itachi found himself presented with yet another example of Sakura’s monster strength as Naruto, along with the chair, crashed through the side of the hallway and outside. His soulmate rushed to get the door closed back in as Itachi’s heart did a double flip.

 

For a moment, there was silence.

 

And then Sakura let out a laugh. Itachi joined in, his smile growing wider and soon, there were tears in Sakura’s eyes as they both laughed it off.

 

_Kami-sama, I am deep into this and I do not want to ever get out._

**Author's Note:**

> phew, this took me a while to finish. i was toying with the ending for like a week.
> 
> anyways, thank you for reading! my editor requested this pairing (yes yes, the same one who edits YGAL and Red Eyes)
> 
> she knows pretty much nothing about naruto. buuuut after reading red eyes and ygal, guess who is a new itasaku shipper to the community?
> 
> please, applause. thank you, thank you.
> 
> anyways, please feel free to comment! i love receiving comments and please, tell me if there are any mistakes, as this was a surprise for my editor and i couldn't edit it myself


End file.
